A one-on-one meeting between Emomali Rahmon and Ilham Aliyev was followed by an extended meeting with participation of official delegations of Tajikistan and Azerbaijan.
The Tajik president’s official website says the parties discussed the entire spectrum of interstate relations between the two countries.
Issues of trade and economic cooperation were reportedly discussed in detail and agreements were reached on taking the necessary measures to further develop this area of relations.
In this context, the parties specifically focused on such areas of cooperation as investments, industrial cooperation, agriculture, transport and the fuel and energy complex.
In the field of industrial cooperation, great opportunities were noted for the implementation of joint projects in the light, chemical and mining industries, in the production of building materials, processing of aluminum, cotton fiber, precious and semi-precious stones and metals.
In the energy sector, Rahmon reportedly confirmed the interest of the Tajik side in the participation of Azerbaijani companies in the development of oil and gas fields in Tajikistan.
In the transport and transit sector, the parties discussed more active use of Azerbaijan's transit capabilities and an increase in the volume of freight traffic of Tajik state and commercial structures.
Within the framework of the talks, the humanitarian direction of relations between the two countries was also in the focus.
Following the meeting and negotiations at the highest level between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, a ceremony of signing of new documents of cooperation took place.
According to the Tajik president’s official website, fourteen new documents of cooperation were signed in the presence of the heads of state Emomali Rahmon and Ilham Aliyev:
– A government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan on cooperation in the field of geodesy, cartography, land surveying, cadaster and remote land observation;
– An agreement on cooperation between the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan;
– A protocol between the Customs Service under the Government of Tajikistan and the Customs Committee of Azerbaijan on the organization of preliminary exchange of information on goods and means of transport transported between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan;
– A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Department of Financial Monitoring under the National Bank of Tajikistan and the Financial Monitoring Service of Azerbaijan on cooperation in the field of financial intelligence information exchange related to the legalization (officialization) of income obtained through crime, major (predicate) crimes and financing of terrorism;
– A program of activities on economic cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan until 2025;
– A roadmap for strengthening cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan for 2023-2024;
– A cooperation program between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan for 2023-2024;
– A MoU on cooperation between the Ministry of Culture of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan;
– A MoU between the State Committee on Investment and State-owned Property Management of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan in the field of investment, promotion of startups and entrepreneurship;
– A MoU on cooperation between the Tourism Development Committee under the Government of Tajikistan and the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan;
– A MoU on cooperation between the National Bank of Tajikistan and the Central Bank of Azerbaijan;
– A MoU between the State Unitary Enterprise "Tajinvest" under the State Committee for Investment and State Property Management of Tajikistan and the Agency for Promotion of Export and Investment of Azerbaijan;
– A protocol on establishing sister-city relations between the city of Isfara of Tajikistan and the city of Shusha of Azerbaijan;
– MoU between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tajikistan and the Agency of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of Azerbaijan.
After the ceremony of signing of new documents of cooperation, Emomali Rahmon and Ilham Aliyev held a press conference for journalists and evaluated the results of the high-level meeting and negotiations between the two countries as fruitful and significant.
According to data from the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan last year valued at 6.2 million US dollars, which is only 0.008 percent of Tajikistan’s foreign trade turnover in 2022.
This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Azerbaijan estimated at only 401.2 US dollars and Tajikistan’s imports from Azerbaijan worth 5.814.7 million US dollars.
